In the corridors of the mind: the narrative labyrinth in Angústia, by Graciliano Ramos

• Grant number: 25/12378-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Literature Theory
• Principal Investigator: Cleomar Pinheiro Sotta
• Grantee: Rafael Tomé Trevisan
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project proposes an analysis of the novel Angústia (1936), by Graciliano Ramos, with the aim of demonstrating the labyrinthine structure of its narrative focus. The investigation is based on the hypothesis that the narrative techniques employed express the experience of a mental labyrinth, as lived by the narrator-character Luís da Silva. Drawing inspiration from studies on the image of the labyrinth in literature - such as those by André Peyronie (2000), Ana Maria Lisboa de Mello (2007), and Jean Chevalier (2002) - this study seeks to show how the narrative focus of the novel reflects the loss of meaning and the absence of an organizing principle of experience, characteristics of the modern condition. In dialogue with the tradition of psychological novels, which may use the labyrinth as a representation of characters' inner states, Angústia relies on interior monologue to express notions of disorientation, fragmentation, isolation, wandering, and circularity. Based also on contributions from narratology and the critical reception of Graciliano Ramos, the project aims to show that Angústia inaugurates a new phase in the author's work, marked by a deeper immersion in human subjectivity. It is expected, therefore, to demonstrate how the articulation between form and content in the novel contributes to the representation of human conflicts and experiences that still resonate today. (AU)